Source: The Economist Namibia
The Namibian fishing sector contributed close to N$3 billion to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country in the 2007/08 financial year.
According to the latest annual report of the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, the total value of exported fish and fish products was N$4.7 billion for the year under question.
The main fish and other marine species that are caught in the fishing waters of the country are pilchard, hake, horse mackerel, monk, kingklip, tuna, crab, rock lobster and orange roughy.
In the large pelagic fishing sector, the three most important tuna and tuna-like species caught in Namibian waters are albacore tuna, big-eye tuna and swordfish, while yellowfin tuna is caught to a lesser extent.
The report said last year, 1 195 tons of albacore tuna, 1511 tons of big-eye tuna and 1 037 tons of swordfish were landed. The report said the pilchard stock was in a precarious state during the period under review, with three surveys conducted indicating biomass estimates of between 0 and 61 000, which is far less than the envisaged minimum of 500.000.